JAGUAR TIMES The Student Voice of South East High School V olume 7 Issue 3 December, 2011 INSIDE THE TIMES IN NEWS: Peace Action Commitee IN OPINION: School Trash IN FEATURES: Behind the Glory IN SPORTS: New Soccer Season HOLIDAY SPECIAL: Christmas CIF Champions Marshall defeated By Jaime Carrillo Reporter What once was a dream has now become reality for the 2011 South East Varsity Football Team as they become City Section Division II Champions for the first time in South East history. The Jaguar squad demon- strated the true heart of a champion by beating the Marshall Barristers 51-34. For some this was more than a championship game, it would be the last game of their high school ca- reers and the last game they play with the family they have grown to be. “Many thoughts are running through my mind: it’s the last game with the seniors, it’s the championship game, and I’m feeling nervous [as] if it was the first game again. I’m happy, but yet sad because I grew up with most of the seniors and now it’s our last game. [I] never thought this day would come. This is the perfect team; [a] perfect season even with one loss. There’s nothing I would change be- cause time is something you can’t get back. I did what I did for the team, giving it your all is what you can do any given day,” said #6 Alex Alvarez, wide receiver, a junior in the Tech & Media magnet. As the hours and min- utes pass by to game time emotions run deep, time begins to slow down, and nerves begin to arise as the Friday night lights are lit upon the grid iron. This memorable game was one for the books. Both Marshall and South East played their hearts out with the vision of holding the champion- ship trophy over their heads. By half time South East was down 14-13, but the Jaguar spirit was not down and out. The Jaguars rallied a tremendous second half to win the game 51-34. The most electrifying play came from #9 quarterback Jonathan Santos to #15 wide receiver Ramone Smith for a 71-yard touchdown pass. Jonathan Santos became the hero of the game by going 20 for 29, passing for 315 yards, 5 passing touchdowns, rushing for 135 yards, and scoring a rushing touchdown. These legendary stats helped the Jaguars reach the prom- ised lands and reach the goal that was set back in January when coach Der- win Henderson took over the team. “The first half was a little rough, but we kept playing our game. Our coaches were calling the right plays and our dedication never gave out and now we’re champions and it feels unbelievable,” said #9 Jona- than Santos, a junior in the Health & Science small school. “It feels great. I’m [on] the greatest team and it feels amazing to call ourselves CIF champions,” said #7 Javier Mad- rigal Middle Linebacker a junior from the Health & Science academy. Continued on page 12 Courtesy of Giovana Garcia
Transcript
JAGUAR TIMES
The Student Voice of South East High School
Volume 7 Issue 3 December, 2011
INSIDE
THE
TIMES
IN NEWS:
Peace Action Commitee
IN OPINION:
School Trash
IN FEATURES:
Behind the Glory
IN SPORTS:
New Soccer Season
HOLIDAY SPECIAL:
Christmas
CIF ChampionsMarshall defeated
By Jaime Carrillo Reporter
What once was a dream has now become reality for the 2011 South East Varsity Football Team as they become City Section Division II Champions for the fi rst time in South East history. The Jaguar squad demon-strated the true heart of a champion by beating the Marshall Barristers 51-34. For some this was more than a championship game, it would be the last game of their high school ca-reers and the last game they play with
the family they have grown to be. “Many thoughts are running through my mind: it’s the last game with the seniors, it’s the championship game, and I’m feeling nervous [as] if it was the fi rst game again. I’m happy, but yet sad because I grew up with most of the seniors and now it’s our last game. [I] never thought this day would come. This is the perfect team; [a] perfect season even with one loss. There’s nothing I would change be-cause time is something you can’t get back. I did what I did for the team, giving it your all is what you can do
any given day,” said #6 Alex Alvarez, wide receiver, a junior in the Tech & Media magnet. As the hours and min-utes pass by to game time emotions run deep, time begins to slow down, and nerves begin to arise as the Friday night lights are lit upon the grid iron. This memorable game was one for the books. Both Marshall and South East played their hearts out with the vision of holding the champion-ship trophy over their heads. By half time South East was down 14-13, but the Jaguar spirit was not down and out. The Jaguars rallied a tremendous
second half to win the game 51-34. The most electrifying play came from #9 quarterback Jonathan Santos to #15 wide receiver Ramone Smith for a 71-yard touchdown pass. Jonathan Santos became the hero of the game by going 20 for 29, passing for 315 yards, 5 passing touchdowns, rushing for 135 yards, and scoring a rushing touchdown. These legendary stats helped the Jaguars reach the prom-ised lands and reach the goal that was set back in January when coach Der-win Henderson took over the team. “The fi rst half was a little
rough, but we kept playing our game. Our coaches were calling the right plays and our dedication never gave out and now we’re champions and it feels unbelievable,” said #9 Jona-than Santos, a junior in the Health & Science small school. “It feels great. I’m [on] the greatest team and it feels amazing to call ourselves CIF champions,” said #7 Javier Mad-rigal Middle Linebacker a junior from the Health & Science academy.
Continued on page 12
Courtesy of Giovana Garcia
NewsPage 2
By Melissa MayoralReporter
Jaguars and holiday shopping
As many Jaguars get ready with family and friends to spend the holiday season and winter break, some students and their families can go holiday shopping while others still cannot. Since the Thanksgiving week-ends Americans have spent $52.4 bil-lion on holiday shopping according to the Washington Post. Cyber Monday, the Mon-day that follows black Friday en-courages shoppers to shop on-line with bargains to further sales. People have already taken advan-tage of Black Friday deals so far,
“I bought the X-Box Kinect for $100 and it was a really great deal!” -Jose Martinez, a parent of a stu-dent in The Tech & Media magnet. Holiday deals don’t end there though. Stores have prolonged the sales this year, and if students still want to catch electronic sales, Best Buy and Fry’s Electronic Store have even added bundles for game system and computer products. Many others consumer stores have also lower their pric-
es to appeal to their target market.
“Honestly [we will be doing] noth-ing,” said Karina Ramirez, a senior in VAPA. With times be-ing rougher earlier this year and last year, she doesn’t have much plans for the winter break. “Why do you think we’re doing nothing. The econ-omy is affecting my family, thus we can’t do anything for the holidays.” The national unemployment rate dropped to 8.6% in November this year, marking the lowest the unem-ployment rate has been since March 2009 according to National Confer-ence of State Legislatures. With those numbers in mind, many other students and teachers still feel blessed for having a somewhat stable econom-ic situation like Ramirez who said, “at least my mom still has her job.”
Interact club announcesToy drive cancelled
The economic upturn gives some families the chance to purchase the latest gadgets for the holidays.
It’s the season of winter when everyone gets cold and grabs a cup of hot chocolate. It’s a time of holidays and students feel the need to spend some quality time with their family. A time of giving and appreciating things in life, although some do not share that experience. There are unfortunate chil-dren in the world who don’t have a family to be with, or who don’t have a home at all. That is why the Interact club holds a toy drive every year to help children in need. Last year, Interact collected toys and sent them to Tecate, Mexico. How-ever, this year Interact was informed by Luis Torres, president of Interact and a senior in the Health and Sci-ence small school, in a meeting dur-ing lunch on December 1 that the toy drive had been cancelled and it wasn’t going to continue. Torres was told by Rotary Internation Dis-trict 5280 that they had cancelled their Ineract toy drive, therefore Interact decided to do the same. But the club still planned to finding a different organization to donate the toys to. Many members of Interact were very disappointed.
“We had plans [and] we’re excited, the news was all of a sudden, [so] we had to adapt to it,” -Victor Arechiga,
a member of Interact and a senior from the Health and Science small school. Arechiga thought that the toy drive was going to continue and they were going to go through with it, even with so little time.
There was a meeting on De-cember 8, all members of Interact came together and learned that the
toy drive was to be cancelled, be-cause the sponsor of Interact, the South Gate Rotary Club and Rotary International District 5280 decided to cancel the toy drive this year. The club was devastated by this decision and tried to find an-other organization to work with for the toy drive. It was tough and Tor-res said Interact ran out of time. “It [was] the last week of school, [but we still] wanted to do it,” said Tor-res. Torres tried hard to find an organization but because he had lit-tle time and was overwhelmed with college applications he couldn’t find aything. According to Torres, Inter-act toy drive committee would usu-ally meet in Mr. Cottom’s room ev-ery Monday to discuss this situation. There were big boxes in Mr. Cottom’s room about to be decorat-ed and ready to be packed with toys. Though there were so many factors
working against the toy drive Mar-tha Guitierrez, the treasurer of In-teract and a senior of the Health and
Science small school, felt so sure that the toy drive was going to succeed. She began re-questing forms and asking for help from teachers to collect the toys, but teach-ers took a long to respond which also held them back. The original plan was for the toys to be dis-tributed on December 16. “We will try to find an organization, even with little time,” said Gutier-rez. Gutierrez seemed very determined ot keep the tradition and send
the toys to Tecate, Mexico. It was not possible
for the committee to find an organi-zation and the toy drive was official-ly cancelled. The boxes are soon to be taken out of Mr. Cottom’s room.
Stores get ready for holidays. Photo by Jessica Iniguez
As holidays arrive, children begin to fantasize about favorite toys.
LA Marshall disputed South East High School’s win in Friday’s Cham-pionship game. Marshall claims the football team allowed an ineligible player to participate in the Championship. Football player, Ramon Smith, is supposedly ineligible because of his academics. However, according to Coach Sanchez, Smith is eligible because he participated in the required number of practices after his grade cut, and before his next game. If the disputes were valid against South East, the Jaguars could not be allowed to participate in next year’s playoffs.
The Jaguar Times is generally an eight-page publication produced by the South East High School Journalism department. The entire student body, the primary audi-ence, receives the paper free of charge to encourge readership and to ensure the showcasing of student journalistc work. The secondary audience for the paper is the faculty, staff, and administration of the school district. Other audiences include members of the local community, other school jour-nalism programs throughout the country, and organizations that promote the devel-opment of scholastic journalism. Without their support, the department cannot main-tain a high-quality program. The newspaper attempts to inform and entertain it’s audience board, fair, and accurate manner on all subjects that affect readers. The publication seeks also to provide a forum for the opinion students, the staff, of the paper, and the faculty, thus encouraging an exchange of ideas and opinions on issues of importance to the readers. Although the staff will allow con-structive criticism of any part of the paper before publication, final authority for con-tent of the paper rests solely in the hands of journalism students. In accordance with State of California Education Code 48907, despite the court ruling in Hazelwood v.. Kuhlmeier; administrators rely on the adviser and staff to make all content deci-sions.
Photo by Jacque-line W. Aldana
The empty boxes awaiting to be thrown away.
Photo by Jessica Iniguez
Photo by Jessica Iniguez
NewsPage 3
Future runners await Upcoming track & field season
By Mariana Montoya Reporter
Track and field is a very com-plex sport known for its many events. Some of its events include running and jumping. Running events are split between sprinting, mid distance running, and long distance running. Jumping events include high jump, triple jump, long jump, and hurdles. There is also shot-put for those who do not run. Shot put consists of throw-ing a metal ball in a pushing motion. This year expectations are higher for all participants follow-ing the great season they had last year.“Last year the guy’s team scored really high in every event and this year I expect the same or better from everyone,” said head coach Sanchez. This year the team will have new coaches. Some of them include former 2011 alumni and captain Jonathan Ramirez, and many more. “The help is there, so there is no reason for the team not to do a great job,” said Sanchez. He has a lot of confidence in the team and he knows that they are great. Pamela Pelayo, a junior in the Technology & Media magnet expects to have a great sea-son. She believes that “the coaches are there to coach our team and to guide us, but they are not the ones who will be running for us. It is all up to us and what we take out of it.” She [Pelayo] will prepare for this upcoming season by running hard in each and every practice and strive to accomplish her goal, which is go-ing to state. This year Pelayo will be
Jonathan Ramirez and Luis Lopez Photo by Richard Perez
prepare for new Track season.
running the 400-meter race, which is one lap around the track, the 1600-meter race which is a mile around the track, and the 4x4 relay race. Other runners like, junior Orlando Perez from the Business and Finance small school also ex-pect to accomplish more through-out the season. He will train as if this was his last season because he wants to get to city or further. Some of the events that Perez will be run-ning are the 3200 meter race, which
gin as soon as we return from win-ter break.“Expect a new season and
a good one too,” added Sanchez. .
Peace Action CommitteeBy Luis Gonzalez
Editor
“Last year the guy’s team scored really high in every event and this year I ex-pect the same or better from everyone,” said head coach Sanchez.
“Expect a new season and a good one too,” added Sanchez.
Two weeks after the tragedy
of Cindi Santana on September 30, a
group of teachers decided to respond
by forming a Peace Action Commit-tee, “to support our students,” said
Ms. Tarman. The Peace Action Com-mittee is [like a] club that is in the pro-cess of helping students speak out if
they are affected by the loss of Cindi
Santana or if they are one of the more
than 2,800 students in the school that
may live in a world of peer violence.
They want to be able to remi-nisce about Cindi Santana and to be
able to move forward, to heal, and
to help prevent it from ever hap-pening again. This is to help create
a safer campus and to let students
know that they are on a safe cam-pus and don’t have to be worried.
The Peace Action Committee
also seeks to work with Woodcraft
Rangers because they’ve showed
some progress in the loss of Santa-na. And, if the world seems violent
speak out, there are people here to
help out with any situation you are
involved in and don’t have to wor-ry about a thing. The Peace Action
Committee, will be happy to help out.
School considers changing to seven periods
By Daniel Navarro
Reporter Advisory Schedule
Period 1. 7:30 to 8:24 54
minutesPeriod 2. 8:29 to 9:23 54
minutes Period 3. 9:28 to 10:22 54
minutesAdvisory 10:27 to 10:57 30
minutesLunch 10:57 to 11:32 35
minutesPeriod 4. 11:37 to 12:31
54 minutes
Period 5. 12:36 to 1:30 54
minutesPeriod 6. 1:35 to 2:29
54 minutes
Period 7. 2:34 to 3:28 54
minutes
From the beginning of this school
year students have been growing
accustomed to the new six period
schedule. At first there was contro-versy surrounding the six period
schedule because students were
use to the four-block schedule.
Now administrators are consider-ing changing the school schedule
to seven periods. “It’s not certain,
but it is being considered for next
year’s schedule,” said Ms. Che
the Tech & Media magnet coor-dinator. The schedule shows that
each class is still going to be 59
minutes, which means students,
will have an extra hour of school.
School would end at 3:28 p.m.
The only thing preventing
the school from changing to seven
periods, so far, is improvement from
students. Over the past five years
student test scores have been low.
to sign up for a School Improve-ment Grant (SIG). This gives the
school money to provide a sev-enth period. If the school chang-
2 miles around the track, and the
1600 meter race. “Working is the
Possible 7th Period Bell Sched-ule
Period 1. 7:30 to 8:29 59
minutesPeriod 2. 8:34 to 9:33 59
minutesPeriod 3. 9:38 to 10:37 59
minutesLunch 10:37 to 11:12 35
minutes Period 4. 11:17 to 12:16
59 minutes
Period 5. 12:21 to 1:20 59
minutes Period 6. 1:25 to 2:24 59
minutesPeriod 7. 2:29 to 3:28 59
minutes es to seven periods this could be
the next big change for students.
Candy Lane Mishaps
By Ricardo Garcia
Photographer Every year in the Candy
Lane Parade the last float is al-
ways Santa in his sleigh with nine
reindeer all together in a big giant
Santa being pulled by a Toyota? Photo by Jacqueline W. Aldana
LAUSD brings lawsuit to State over
bus transportation cuts
By Richard Perez
Photographer“It sounds like a horror movie:
Thousands of students are stranded
on the sidewalks of Los Angeles,”
says an Ed-Blast from LAUSD
Students may be left without trans-portation to their school destination
due to the California state cutting
school transportation. Schools live
with many budget cuts now as it
is, and to see that LAUSD receives
another cut because money is not
available for students to help with
school education. According to an
Ed-Blast from LAUSD Governor
Jerry Brown has told the district
“to live within our means.” State
legislatures of California hope
that its economy would heal soon
and if it does not then legislatures
will plan to cut $38 million away
from bus transportation, which will
take in effect on January 1, 2012.
According to the Ed-Blast by July of
next year home to school transporta-tion will be extinct. The cut that is
being placed on LAUSD is unethical
and is not allowing schools to help
serve all students with transportation.
LAUSD is currently in the process
of filing a lawsuit opposing this im-moral act. The District is hoping to
keep cuts away from schools for as
long as they can to accommodate the
educational needs for all students.
Cartoon courtesy of Angel Martinez
“Working is the only way we are going to do well,” said Per-ez. He expects that the coming of the new coaches will be ben-eficial to him and to his teammates. The future of track relies solely on its participants. “Overall track has a well rounded team, lots of strength in the various events; we have great sprinters and and long dis-tance runners,” said Sanchez. Track and Field will begin the 2nd week ofMarch, but conditioning will be-
float. This year, however, was dif-ferent. This years Santa debut was
disappointing to some. The sleigh
was pulled by a Toyota truck and
with only four reindeer on the float.
For some awaiting a big
and beautiful float their expecta-tions where crushed when they
saw the poorly made sleigh.
Not only was the Santa sleigh
float a major disappointment to some,
there was also a report of a horse
fainting on Alexander and Tweedy
near the 7’Eleven dropping the rider.
The rider then attempted
to wake the horse, other riders saw
this incident and decide to make
their horse imitate the horse that had just fainted in order to not cause
worry among the crowd. Then the
fainted horse awoke and the rider
tried to ride the horse again even
though it could clearly not stand up.
Eventually they forced the
horse to get up and continue walk-ing with the rider on it. Besides
these minor mishaps the South
Gate Candy Lane Parade seemed
like a success and many left to
there home’s warm and happy.
Opinion Teen obesity on the rise
With more than 2,800 stu-dents on the campus trash from food plates, chip bags, lunch wastes, and more are often seen on the grounds. This causes some students to react. “Every time after lunch when I’m walking to my next class I always see trash in the hallways. It bothers me because sometimes when I’m walk-ing with a friend and I’m distracted I end up stepping on plates with food on the stairways and my shoes get ruined,” said Alexis Gonzales, a se-nior in the Tech & Media magnet. On the other hand trash does not seem to bother some students. “I have trashed the school, but I don’t care for it because I know that the jan-itors will pick it up whenever they get a chance. If they get paid for cleaning then I shouldn’t bother at all,” said Jose Montes, a junior in TMUM. Another situation regarding the trash is the lack of janitors. Many students need to take action and try
to help out for a better and healthier environment. “The problem are bud-get cuts and that affects us not only academically, but it’s also affects the way the school looks because there is not enough money to hire more jani-tors. The only way the school could become somewhat cleaner is for us students to take action and help out by picking up for ourselves and when we see trash on the floor pick it up,” said Cesar Munoz, a senior in the Visual And Performing Arts small school. Many other schools around the district have a program that works just on campus beautification. Campus beautification is a program based on students who work to have a healthy and clean campus. “I think that the best way to keep a school clean that doesn’t have many janitors is for the students to help out. I myself would be more than glad to offer my volunteer hours to make the school better. Even though I would like to make a change, I can’t do everything by myself. I would
need other fellow students to help me out and follow me or else it would be impossible,” said Adri-an Ramirez, a senior in TMUM. The school has some sections in which trash is just too much. On campus large amounts of trash can be seen by the lock-ers near the A and C buildings. Students who access their lockers are not happy at all. “I completely hate the fact that the school lock-ers are disgusting and full of trash. I was very angry when I got my locker assigned because I got one that was full of trash and rusty. If people would only be more aware and throw trash in proper areas like trashcans I would have a locker. I would definitely say that the locker area is the most affected by school trash,” said Alex Isidro, a junor in TMUM. Con-ditions don’t seem to improve and some students don’t seem to care. While the school keeps get-ting trashed some students will have to bear with the situation. “I
hope that one day the school will be clean again or at least better than what it is now,” said Gonzales. The trashed lockers have not improved after complaints. “I talked to one of the janitors in
school and he said that he couldn’t clean everything perfect. I hope the school gets more involved and gets more janitors,” said Isidro.
By Diego MunozReporter
By Christopher Casillas Reporter
Obesity has become one of the most widespread diseases in recent times. Teens are threatened by this sickness, which can lead to other fa-tal illnesses. Causes of obesity vary,
but people don’t decide to be over-weight. It’s due to changes in society. Obesity has augmented dur-ing the 21st century. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-vention, “The problem of childhood
obesity in the United States has grown considerably in recent years. Since 1980, overweight rates have dou-bled among children and tripled among adolescents, approximately 17 percent or 12.5 million children and adolescents between the ages of 2-19 are consid-ered obese.” Carlos Gon-zalez, a junior in Technol-ogy & Media magnet said, “It’s surprising how many obese or overweight stu-dents there are in school.” There are multiple reasons why young people become obese, such as tele-vision and a bad economy. Itza Mendoza, a sophomore from Health and Science
small school said, “I watch a lot of television and use the com-
puter for a long time therefore I don’t have enough time to do exercise, so I rely on my physical education class. Since the class is very short I feel that I am not getting the amount of physical activity I need daily.” Ac-
cording to CDC, “Children and ado-lescents of the ages of 8—18 spend an average of 7.5 hours a day using entertainment media, including TV, computers, video games, cell phones, and movies. Of those 7.5 hours, about 4.5 hours is dedicated to viewing TV. Viewing television is a contributing factor to childhood obesity because it may take away from the time chil-dren spend in physical activities; lead to increased energy intake through snacking and eating meals in front of the TV; and influence children to make unhealthy food choices through exposure to food advertisements.” “Most of the time I have to buy fast-food because junk food is a lot cheaper than a fruit or vegetable, by the way it also taste a lot better,” said Gonzalez. According to CDC, “Another factor is that people who aren’t very wealthy may have less access to quality grocery stores that sell healthy and affordable options. In these areas, it might be easier and cheaper for residents to purchase less healthy foods and beverages.” The bad economy has a huge affect on children and adolescents,
but obesity also worsens the econ-omy. According to CDC, “Obesity costs this country about $150 bil-lion a year, or almost 10 percent of the national medical budget.” According to the American Academy of children and adoles-cent psychiatry, “There are many risks and complications with obe-sity such as increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabe-tes, breathing problems, cancer, and stroke which can all lead to death. Unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is respon-sible for over 300,000 deaths each year in the United States.” “Not to worry. There are many solutions to obesity, but effort is a key element in obtaining the goal of losing weight,” said Mendoza. Ac-cording to the National Center for Biotechnological Information, “An active lifestyle and regular exercise, along with healthy eating, is the best way to lose weight. Even modest weight loss can improve your health. The main goal should be to learn new, healthy ways of eating and make them a part of your daily routine.”
Student gorges on school food Photo by Alejandro Baltazar
Page 4
Trashed South East not healthy environment
Students do not through their trash. Photo by Jeffrey Mendez
What’s wrong with my clothes?By Jesus NunezReporter Clothing and uniforms have been debated for decades. Students around the globe are judged by oth-ers for size, shape, ethnicity, or tone of skin. According to, “Fash-ion Bullies Attack,” one 6th grade student from Springfield, Illinoius; Aryana McPike wore Dolce & Gab-bana, but her friends said, “She should wear apple bottom jeans by the famous rapper Nelly and sneak-ers such as Air Force 1,by Nike.” Many of McPike’s friends question her dressing habits and if she will ever come to school without being so dressed up.
Bullying starts for by many reasons, but in 1944 Eleanor Estes wrote a book on a young polish girl about how she would be teased about
the shabby dresses she wore to school on a daily basis. Students here at SEHS have been victimized from what they have worn and how they look.
“In middle school I wore a pink shirt
and people called me gay,” said Ge-ovannie Pantoja from the Justice and
Law small s c h o o l . People stereotype o t h e r s by what they wear, not from k n o w -
ing them, but just tak-ing a quick glimpse or stare. A uniform policy could change those looks on anyone and could have pro’s and con’s. “It might
help with the chronic tardy problem we have here,” said Mr. Palomo a Tech & Media teacher. Students come to school tardy worrying about what they are wearing. “My son goes to a school with uniforms, he doesn’t even take that much time to get ready,” said Palomo. Many students and parents can argue whether the uniform policy is eco-friendly because it cost money to buy new clothes. One outcome that can benefit families is that they don’t have to worry about buying the children branded clothes. “If they are affordable it’s beneficial because par-ents won’t have to worry about buy-ing expensive clothes,” said Palomo.
Bullied victims get bullied or do the bullying due to past events in their life. “It depends how you dressed before when we didn’t have uniforms,” said Pantoja. Students can make fun of others after the uniform policy is passed, but it wont a matter because everyone is wearing the same thing. When students make fun of other students there is no point be-cause overall everyone has the same goal to achieve in school, so it won’t matter how bad or good students look.
“In middle school I wore a pink shirt and people called me gay,”
Opinion Page 5
Leonardo MartinezReporter
New Year’s is coming!
People make New Year’s reso-lutions because they want to set goals for the New Year that they weren’t able to accomplish this year. Everyone has a different feel-ing about making New Year’s reso-lution list. Some may feel its good, some may feel it’s dumb, and others feel different to-wards it like if its dumb a good way to organize your-self or just think if it’s a waste of time and useless.
To some people a New Year’s resolu-tion is an opportuni-ty to make a change in their life for the better. Some people want to lose weight,
start working, go to college, spend less money, or whatev-er they want to do. That is what New Year’s resolution is all about, it is for
people to set goals or to making a change for themselves. “A way to keep yourself orga-nized, and prioritize your goals,” said
Sergio Lopez, a se-nior in the Health and Science small school. He has three goals to accomplish for next year. He can probably make more
with time. One goal is to get financial aid, a second goal is to gain more muscle, and ride a 120-mile bike ride. These are some of his New Year’s
resolution goals for the upcoming year. Others may feel different about a New Years resolu-tion list. Other feel it is dumb and worth-
less and that it is not needed to make a change in your life. “I think it’s stupid,” said, Eduar-do Martinez, a junior in the Tech & Me-dia magnet. He said, “because it makes people believe that it’s a fresh start, when it really isn’t.” He says if he did have a New Year’s resolution he would control more of this spending, and take more responsibility. That’s how Martinez feels about a New Year’s resolution list.
Students celebrate Christmas in their own By Emmanuel DelgadoReporter
Students make New Year’s Resolutions. Photo by Luis Santana
Ms. Diaz shows her holiday spirit. Photo by Luis Santana Ornament depicts religious veiws of christmas. Photo by Manuel Mejia
“A way to keep yourself organized, and pri-oritize your goals,” said Sergio Lopez , a se-nior in the Health and Science small school.
The earliest time Christmas was celebrated was around December 25, 336AD. Some time around when the first Roman Christian Emperor Constantine the Great came to power, according to James Cooper, the found-er of whychristmas.com, a site that publishes information about various types of holidays around December. There are many reasons about how Christmas began, and various ways how people celebrate it. Some
people believe this holiday is secular, and some still celebrate Christmas for religious beliefs. Various types of cultures have changed Christ-mas to what it has evolved to today. “Christmas is rejoining fami-ly to catch up in life, rebuild the love, and push away all the negative in life,” said Justine Salcedo, a junior in the Health and Science small school. Salcedo always looks forward to this “lovely holiday” and spends time
with her family at her great-grand-ma’s house to celebrate what they believe is the birth of Jesus Christ. To celebrate his birth many people do Posadas, which is a re-enactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for a shelter so the Virgin Mary could have her baby accord-ing to Dale Hoyt Palfrey, an expert in Mexican culture. One way that a Posada is celebrated is “we pray with the rosary and sing songs and
re-enact the birth of Jesus Christ,” said Salcedo. Even though people celebrate his birth not everyone does. “I don’t necessarily celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on Christ-mas. I celebrate it because it is a day to spend with family and show my appreciation towards them,” said Araceli Saucedo, a senior in the Health and Science small school. Al-though some of her family celebrates for religious beliefs she celebrates it
as a day to be happy to be with fami-ly. Even some Jehovah Witnesses still celebrate, not because of the birth of Jesus Christ but because it has been in family for generations and is al-most a tradition. People celebrate this day in different ways and “For the people who don’t enjoy this time of day but hope they celebrate it in their own unique way,” said Salcedo.
Most students are looking forward to the Christ-mas break. This three week vacation can be very satisfy-ing to many students because they rest from all the work and stress that school can cause. Some students have their va-cation already planned out, “For my Christmas vacation I plan to read books and watch basketball,” said Esmeralda Aguayo, a junior in the Health and Science small school. As the end of the final school week grows near, stu-dents get anxious and excited
for the vacation,, “I’m look-ing forward to being in the Rose Parade and going to Dis-neyland, and also marching in the Rose Parade,” said Erwin Letona, a senior in the Health and Science small school. The vacation can be from beneficial and very rest-ful. “It is pretty good that were getting three weeks off, because due to the new schedule of six classes we get stressed out and we need a break,” said Geovannie Pan-toja, a senior in the Justice and Law small school. While
some agree some find it good and bad, “I find it good be-cause we need a break from school, but this an also be bad because we forget ev-erything that has been taught to us in class,” said Aguayo. This can be a problem to many students, since they leave for the three weeks ev-erything that has been taught to them in their classes can be forgotten and this creates a great setback to them but oth-erwise this can help them take some time for themselves and get heir full rest. “I find it very
bad because we need more va-cation, we need to spend more time with our families.” said Katie Turnell, a Junior in the Justice and Law small school. Overall, students are trying to say that these three weeks are a gateway to rest. due tot he stressfulness of six classes, this can be very overwhelming. Therefore, students need their vacations to get their mind go-ing. this helps because many students get
stresses and give up on their academics, so with these va-cations it allows them to have a chance to overcome their stress and to put commit-ment and effort into school.
Students go on Christmas breakAlberto AnguianoReporter
Happy Holidays!
Page 6
Holidays: Time of familyby Monica Rodriquez and Vanessa NavarroReporters The South Gate commu-nity celebrates the winter holi-days by showing their Christmas spirit. The Christmas lights go up, wreaths are put on the doors, and preparations begin for the Christmas parade. It’s a time to exchange gifts and give thanks with family and loved ones in one of the most special times of the year. There are many holiday traditions. Christmas is a holiday mostly in the eastern and western cultures. The traditions are based on the cultures. One of the Christ-mas traditions mostly is giving; families get together and give each other special gifts.
Parents have the opportunity to share the importance of giving on this holiday. Brian Solis, a junior in the VAPA small school, cel-ebrates Christmas with his family. It’s important to be together with his family during the holidays. “Based on my tradition I cel-ebrate Christmas with my family, it’s very important to me because I get to spend time with them,” said Solis. Parents share gifts that are given with a thought of love and care for their children. Children who receive many gifts may be inspired to give to those who are sick and underprivileged. “I think like most people, the best part is open-ing the gifts, not only because of the gifts, but seeing the hap-piness and surprised faces of the little ones [fills] my heart with joy,” said Katy Lopez, a junior in the Tech and Media
small school. “The holiday season brings families and communities together… but most of all I’m thankful for being able to live another day and have the delight to spend it with my family,” said Lopez. Spending time with family is one of the most important qualities of the holiday season. “I spend time with my family and my friends as well,” said Johann Cervantes, a senior in the Business and Finance small school. The Christmas spirit is the joy and wonder of this celebration. “The thing I en-
joy the most is the hol-iday spirit and the deco-rations,” said Desiree
Martinez, a junior in the VAPA small school. Christmas has become a
time of spending time with loved ones, either with close friends or family members. Bringing the family together brings so much to the holiday spirit. The tradi-tions brought on this day are so interesting. Each person has their own traditions and they’re ex-panding with every passing year. While decorations hang outside of houses, it is really what hap-pens on the inside that shows the true spirit of the holidays.
Photo by Sregio GallegosDesiree Martinez, a junior in VAPA, enjoys holiday
Photo by Sregio Gallegos Johann Cervantes, a senior, spends time with the family during the holidays.
Photo by Sregio GallegosJunior Katy Lopez said, “ The holiday season brings families and communities together…”
Photo by Sregio GallegosBrian Solis, a junior, treasures time spent with the family most.
Holiday Scramble
1)Holiday Season2)Santa3)Sleigh4)Gifts
5)Hanukkah6)Snowman7)Carols8)Northpole
9)Rudolph10)Elves11)Christmas
Name All The Reindeers
For Her:
Purse/ HandbagCardigan/SweaterTravel set Straightener and hair dryerSports attireFavorite Video game/ movie/ cd albumBootsScarfCamera
For Him:
Sports AttireChair beanbagSkatcycleKoolatron Retro Coca-Cola Can Vending FridgeNike N98 iD mens Track Jacketfavorite video games
Gift Advice
T K I I C S U A T N A S A
H O L I D A Y S E A S O N
V B A U M M F E N I P A M
H M O F A T S F O F H J G
P P T H N S N M R I V J I
L D Z G N I O C T L T D FO Y M I P R W A H L T L T
~Christmas is an old English word a contraction of Christ’s Mass~1st president to decorate the White House for Christmas was Franklin Pierce.~The first artificial Christmas Tree was made in Germany out of goose feathers and green dye.~Rudolph was created by Montgomery Ward in the late 1930’s to promote the holiday.~The song “Jingle Bells” was orginally written for Thanksgiving but then be-came the most popular song for Christ-mas~In Hebrew Hanukka means Dedicated~The large middle candle in the Meno-rah is called Shammus.~The Shammus is used to light the other candles, it always remains lit.
~Gelt are chocolate coins that are nor-mally consumed during Hanukkah.~There are 17 correct ways to spell Ha-nukkah: Chanuccah, Channuka, Chan-nukah, Chanuka, Chanukkah, Chanuko, Hannuka, Hannukah, Hanuka, Hanuk-kah, Hanukka, Hannukka, Kanukkah, Khannuka, Khannukah, Khanukkah
Fun Facts
Ingredients Needed to make 1 dozen cookies3/4 cup of all-purpose flour1/3 teaspoon baking soda1/3 teaspoon salt2/3 stick of softened butter1/4 cup of granulated sugar1/4 cup of packed brown sugar1/3 teaspoon vanilla extract1 large egg2/3 cup of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels 1/3 cup of chopped nuts(Optional)
Directions:Preheat oven to 375° F.
Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Then beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in a larger mixer bowl until it is creamy, and add the egg while beating. Gradually beat in the mixture from your smaller bowl( flour bowl).
Stir in the morsels and nuts if chosen to.For a result of 1 dozen cookies place the dough onto ungreased baking sheets with the
measure of a tablespoon. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Let the cookies cool on baking sheets
for about 1-2 minutes and remove from baking pan to finish cooling process.By Now You Should Have Prepared Yourself 1 Dozen Delicious Homemade Cookies,
Congratulations and Enjoy.
Chocolate Chip Cookie
Recipe
~Bake cookies and Decorate them~Play Board Games~Gather around the fireplace and drink some hot chocolate~Watch movies (Christmas classics)~Play Secret Santa or a gift exchange game~Help prepare Christmas dinner~Go out to the city and look at light decorations~Volunteer at a homeless shelter
‘Tis the season to save money? by Reyna Flores Reporter
With economic times
seeming to have gotten better
this holiday season some still
wonder if holiday offers are
enough to buy the amount of
presents they need for every-
one on their list. This holiday
season is expected to be one
in which some people will
receive the least amount of
presents, being that one out
of four children live in pov-
erty according to the Census
Bureau. This leaves students
to contemplate about receiv-
ing a present or nothing at
all. Elsie Andrade, a student
in the Health and Science
small school said, “we are
just chilling this
Christmas and
not getting as many presents
as last year.”
Parents as well as students
are being affected by this
since they are actually the
ones providing the income
to actually buy gifts. “Since
there’s not much money to
buy everyone presents, we
actually have decided to do
a gift exchange so no one
will be left out and at least
everyone gets a gift,” said
Griselda Contreras, a parent
of a sophomore in the Health
and Science small school.
Although many have taken
temporary holiday jobs to
meet demands of huge holi-
day crowds, many still carry
that holiday spirit. “In the
end it’s spending time with
family that actually counts,”
said Elsie Andrade, student in
the Health and Science small
school.
Things to do with your
family on the holidays
Holiday Picture Search
Key :
9) Under what Queens reign and influence did modern day Christmas tradition begin? a) Queen Elizabeth b) Queen Victoria c) Queen Hatshepsut
5) What did the reindeer do to Grandma? a) Run her over b)Kiss her c)Talk to her d)Play with her
6) What kind of Christmas is Bing Cosby dreaming of in his famous song? a)A cold one b)A white one c)A bad one d) A crazy one
7) According to the Christmas tradition, any two who fall under the ____ must____. a) Christmas tree, water it b) Influence of Christmas, dress c) Mistletoe, kiss
8) What is wanted in the song “All I want for Christmas is my_____? a) Baby Back b) Pony c) Two front teeth d) Christmas tree
1) Charles Dickens wrote?a) A Christmas Carolb) Christmas Shoec) The Night Before Christmasd) The Grinch
4) In Twas the Night Before Christmas what did the people say in their song that was calling Santa? a)The Reindeer b)The Church bells c)The Christmas Bells d)The People Caroling
2) The song a Holy Night says what in it? a)Had a very shiny nose b)All i want for Christmas is you c)Say hello to friends you know d)All of the other reindeer
3)A common abbreviation for Christmas is? a) Ch-mas b)X-mas c)Santa day d)Tree-mas
Answer Key:1)a2)c3)b4)c5)a6)b7)c8)c9)b
by Lindsey Alas
Trivia by Jaqueline W. AldanaEditor-in-chief
by Jaqueline W. AldanaEditor-in-chief
by Jaqueline W. AldanaEditor-in-Chief
by Jaqueline W. AldanaEditor-in-chief
Special
OpinionPage 8
Over the course of time teen-age pregnancy has played with the scales. When our families first came
to South Gate, or the United States, it seemed normal for a girl to get pregnant at the age of 15 or older. In fact it was perfectly ac-ceptable and was actually encour-aged by many families; but for the reason that women were expected to become housewives. They be-lieved in a patriarchal society and it was rare for a girl to be allowed to go to school, because they’d be able to stand up against the men. The men feared that women would gain some intelligence and be able to fight
against them. In that falls in the belief that women were only good for two things, being a good housewife and providing the family with babies. Because of so, many girls believed they couldn’t go to school, so they
would just stay home wait for their fa-thers to match them with someone they thought had good characteristics and become housewives. Teen girls had no choice, but then they began to defy their parents and gain an education. In doing so they were able to com-prehend the fact that they were able to do much more than have babies.
Teenage pregnancy rates went down, but once again it has risen. Teen-age pregnancy has once again made the headlines, but it is no longer for either culture or custom “795 of teenagers who become pregnant are unmarried,” says Teen Help. Now it’s for society, Peer pressure has forced teens into doing things
they wouldn’t normally do. Teen-age girls have now felt obligated to give guys everything; they have been made to be careless. Peer pres-sure has forced many girls into de-ciding their ready for that commit-ment, that they’re ready to be grown up, but because they don’t think of the consequences. They only think
about the time being, about the sex. With or without protection pregnancy can occur, “895 of teen-age pregnancies are unintended,” says Teen Help. When counselors and parents say “No metas las pier-nas donde no deves,” or “Think twice before you act.” They don’t say it to be mean or because they can, they say it because they care. Becoming sexually active is a big step, a big decision and very risky. Lady’s don’t let a guy control you and make you believe it’s nothing. Guys when you ask a girl to sleep with you, think about your future with a baby. Becoming pregnant takes two people, so for both parties think twice before you act, sex is not a joke
Blood
drive
succeeds
Thanks to Lindsey Alas, a junior in the tech and media acad-emy who was the host of the blood drive this year, and her hard work it was possible for Providence to make an appearance here at South East High. There was a conflicting situ-ation with a double booked gym, but nonetheless there were 182 donors
out of the 187 sign ups who donated. That was a great outcome and was deeply needed according to Mar-ty, the coordinator of the Providence crew. She says “[we’re at] the lowest blood levels in December and Janu-ary, what South East did is tremen-dous.” The team was very grateful for so many students participating in the blood drive and leadership was too.
Cynthia Reyes, president of the senior class in Tech & Me-dia, said “It’s awesome how people are willing to donate even though it’s a scary thing.” Students pres-ent were scared but they believed they were there for a good cause. “It feels good to give back and help others,’ said Daisy Zamora, a senior in Justice and Law small school.
For many seniors it was their final
way to give back to the community and a way to help in saving a life. After a month’s work of orga-nizing no one thought it would be this big. “It was stressful to get everything together, but it was for a good cause I don’t regret any of it, said Alas. She and the Providence crew was sur-prised by the outcome and very ap-
preciative. They knew because of the double booked gym it would be tough but they were thankful. “I want to give thanks to the administrators and Mrs. Barragan,” said Marty.
By Jacqueline W. AldanaEditor-in-Cheif
Daisy Zamora as she’s donating blood. Photo by Jacqueline Al-dana
Tortas sold at school by students substitute school lunchBy Denise Banuelos Reporter
Over the past few years, tor-tas have become one of the most
eaten meals at South East High School. Tortas are the most bought
and sold meals at anytime of the day, from lunch to passing pe-riod even during class. “I think it is convenient for kids to sell food at school because cafeteria food is disgusting” said Jasmine Avalos, a junior in the Health and Science small school. Al-though some believe that tor-tas are not healthy they con-tain vegetables as well as dairy products. “I believe that tortas are healthy because it[they] contain vegetables like lettuce ands tomatoes and it [they] also contains dairy products,” said Jose Torres, a junior in the health and Science small school. Not only do tortas nourish hungry students, but they also provide
financial help to the sellers in need.
“With the money I get from selling tortas I help my parents with house-hold needs and buy myself whatever
I need. The amount of money I make a week depends on the amount of tortas I sell that week,” said a seller who asked to remain anonymous. Although selling tortas isn’t permitted at SEHS, the amount of kids who sell continues to grow as well as consumers due to what students percieve as the “disgust-ing” food the school provides.
“I think it is conve-nient for kids to sell food at school be-cause cafeteria food is disgusting”
Teen pregnancy on the rise
Editorial
Tortas make for good meal. Photo by Humberto Guitron
Christian Sandoval waits to make donation. Photo by Jacqueline Aldana
Arts & Entertainment
By Stephanie
Robles
Reporter
Visual and Per-
forming Arts
kicked off the
month of Decem-
ber with the their
first Christmas
show. The season
of joy and love is
upon the South
Gate community
and the students
of VAPA portrayed
these emotions on
stage. “I feel the
people [loved] it
and [sang] to most
of the songs,” said
Fernanda Napoles,
a junior in the
VAPA small school.
There was sing-
ing, dancing, per-
formances by the
orchestra, ma-
riachi band, and
fashion show on
Christmas clothes
and winter attire.
“Definitely worth
the $6,” said Ma-
ria Sikarin, whose
niece was apart of
the play. The use
of props and cre-
ative decoration
and design only
added to the mood
of holiday cheer.
“I enjoyed them!”
said Denise Alva-
rez, a nine –year-
old who went to
the play with her
mother. “A sooth-
ing type of enter-
tainment,” said
Christopher Ri-
vas, a junior of the
Health, Science,
and Environment
Academy. The
Jolly Day Concert
seemed fitting for
the holiday season.
‘Tis the Season to Be Jolly
Holiday movies to watch with family
making, but this time they are aboard
a luxury cruise ship. Their mischief’s
ends them up on a deserted island.
After exploring the island they re-
alize that the turf is not as deserted
as they had originally had thought.
The movie will have its usual
dancing and singing just as in the first
two movies. This movie is under the
genre animation, comedy, and family
so this is a movie that can be watched
by all ages. When asking Reyes what
he thought about the movie he said,
“They are pretty funny, but the fun-
niest parts of the movie is their
voices”. This movie can randomly
have everyone laughing because it
can be the little things that they do
like the voices or the way they look.
The movie is set to release
on December 16. It is rated three
out of five stars by IMDb. If the
movie comes anywhere near to the
success that the first two had then
it is going to be an exciting movie
and a movie that can be remem-
bered through out the years to come.
Page 9
School’s mascot performs on stage. Photo by Stephanie Robles
Cartoon by Manuel Mejia
By Daniel Zamudio
Reporter&
Gritsy Urrutia
Editor
Christmas is the time of the
year where students get to spend time
with their family and close friends.
Movies bring family and friends to-
gether, because everyone gets togeth-
er to watch a movie that they want
to watch and they have the opportu-
nity to watch it with the people that
is fun to be around and love most.
Movies like “How the Grinch
Stole Christmas” or “Home Alone
2” are some of the holiday favor-
ites that have been broadcast over
the years. A new movie that is due
this month is “Alvin and the Chip-
munks: Chipwrecked.” The chip-
munks franchise has generated mil-
lions of dollars because it gives the
viewer comedy and is also an ani-
mated film that children will love.
Although it is a popular mov-
ie, it will have some stiff competition
with “The Sitter” and “Tintin” also
due to release this month. Rogelio
Reyes, a junior in the Tech and Me-
dia Magnet said, “I would not watch
it with my friends, but if I go with my
family then I would watch the movie.”
So the movie targets young-
er viewers and is more family
friendly and not for teenagers and
adults.”Even though it catches in-
fants attention the most, my mom
and I are waiting for it to come out so
we can go to the movie theater and
spend time together watching it” said
Elizabeth Castro. In this third movie
of the chipmunks series the chip-
munks are up to their usual trouble-
Joliday concert
By Lizbeth Morales
Reporter&
Gritsy Urrutia Editor
The Joliday Concert was an event for
the Christmas Holiday. The show includ-
ed the singing class, the vocal music, the
band, the musical theater class, and a
fashion show. “The reason we called it
a concert is because we included the
band,” said Ms. Chavez. They will
start a fundraiser every year in memory
of Cindi Santana, the seventeen-year-
old student who attended our school.
“We will start a fundraiser for the se-
nior Cindi, we want to raise $2,000 by
the end of the year for the scholarship”
Chavez said. In this event the only fun
raised they did are from the ticket sales.
“Students performing started to
practice the day after the Halloween
show and they stopped the day before
the Joliday Concert,” said Chavez.
These students put a lot of effort into
all of this. They like to make people
happy with their performances. “This
year we tried to make it more like Dis-
neyland. We didn’t want people to fall
asleep during the show we want them
to be excited and want to keep seeing
and enjoying it.” They decorated with
a lot of different objects. Chavez’s art
class did all the painting and took their
time to make it look as best as they could.
“Planning all of this isn’t frustrat-
ing, it just gets stressful to think like are
we going to make it on time, or if all the
lighting is going to be done the proper
way,” said Chavez. “If it were frustrat-
ing we wouldn’t be able to do this every
year. We would give up, but with all of our
hard work it is possible to accomplish it.”
They all enjoy to dance and perform as
well as making the audience happy. Count-
ing all of the students and helpers there
are about 300 of us in total, and includ-
ing the 700 people that attended the show
it was about one 1,000 people in all. “We
highly appreciate that people attended this
event and helped us fundraise for the band
and also for the perpetual scholarship,”
Chavez said. “We hope everybody enjoyed
the show and liked the effort and thought
Working on the stage design.
Photo by Abraham Mereles
“Even though it catch-
es infants attention the
most, my mom and
I are waiting for it to
come out so we can
go to the movie the-
ater and spend time
together watching it.”
Elizabeth Castro awaits release.
Photo by Lizbeth Morales
FeaturesPage 10
By Jocelyne RamosReporter Ever wonder what MESA club is about? MESA is a club where mathematics, science, engineering, and imagination skills are put to work. Students that are interested in all those subjects are welcome to join the club. Mr. Abad a math teacher has been part of this club for three years along with Ms. Manicilla are both advisors for the club. “I like to see what the kids
build and when the kids work togeth-er as a team and build something that works,” said Abad. A lot of teamwork is involved in this club working to-gether in building their projects and competing with them. Students compete according to grade. Freshman and sophomore’s dates are different from juniors and seniors. The most common thing that they build for their competitions is a robot that shoots a ball into a basket from a certain distance. They also make ice
cream, marshmallow towers, wind-mills, and mouse traps. This club meets every Wednesday during lunchtime in A213. If they need the extra time to work on their projects they meet af-ter school as well. For their JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) competition in December the club creates a de-vice that shoots three footballs into a trashcan in less than a minute. “I en-joy building things and putting into practice what I learn in class,” said
Juan Bravo, a senior in the Tech & Media magnet. Bravo is the president of MESA. He has been in the club for three years and when he started doing more for the club he became president. The most interesting thing in this club for him is learning things he didn’t know before and enjoys putting into work the things he does know. He also enjoys building many things such as small miniature robots and mousetraps. SEHS is the first school to
have MESA in South Gate to make the best robotics and make it into the finals. The
students involved in this club have been fundraising in order to get their equipment for the final competition the need up
to $6,000. Many students find
the club interesting because they are using what they learn
in class for something fun and they learn some things that they did not know before they put into use what they do know. Students are part of this club because it is what they love to do, while others wants to try something new. MESA is opened to all. Anyone can join to explore something differ-ent.
Living an authentic soccer life By Ramiro SauzoReporter Jonathan Barajas, a senior in the Business and Law small school is a student athlete on the varsity soccer team. According to his teammates and those who have seen him play, he is known to be among the best, if not to be the best on the South East Soccer team. Barajas is one of the captains of the team. To become one of the team’s captains, Barajas had to prove himself trustworthy and reliable on and off the field. During his fresh-men year he was moved up to varsity and has stayed there ever since. On his team many consider him the most important position on the team. He plays as the last man in the de-fense. The reason why many con-sider this position as the most impor-tant is because he stands behind the whole defense. He is the team’s last resort. If the opposing team was to pass Barajas they would most likely stay one on one against the keeper, which means they would most likely score a goal. Last year the soccer team was named CIF Champions for the first
time in the history of the school. “It feels great to play with my teamates, who I consider my second family,” said Barajas. Most athletes if not all spend so much time and dedica-tion with this soccer team that they become very attached to their team-mates and coaches. “I enjoy soccer the most because I get to play with
my teammates and get things done the right way, the way it’s done at South East High!” said Barajas. Before playing on the soccer team here at South East High, Barajas played in a small league named Cal. South, which is l o c a t - e d in
t h e c i t y of Para-mount. Barajas started playing soc-cer at age four. “The person who inspired me to play soccer has always been my dad. Ever since I was just a little kid he, my dad, had influenced me in soccer and in edu-cation.” Barajas, like many others,
views soccer as a way to make a difference in his life.
Barajas is determined to make it into CSUN or Dominguez Hills with a full ride scholarship. Because of this, over the past few years, Barajas has
made the best he can of his
soccer career in high school so he can be recognized by scouts and can also be offered a scholarship. “ I am also inspired to play soccer because I want to do something with my life. I want to become a successful person, and not struggle in life.”
This dream that Barajas has to become a succesful person in life, has forced him to set goals in his life such as getting good grades and been a good and respected student by his teachers and those around him.
Jonathan Barrajas- Varsity Soccer Captain . By Desiree Villatoro
MESA a hidden wonder at South East
MESA Students Hector Melgoza and Carlos Gonzales participate in an activity. Photo By Anthony Lopez
“I enjoy soccer the most because I get to play with my teammates
and get things done the right way, the way it’s done at South East
High!”
“I like to see what the kids build and when the kids work together as a team and build some-thing that works,”
Jonathan Barrajas entering the first half of the game. By Desiree Villatoro
Jonathan Barajas with a ball at his feet.
Coach Henderson, head coach for SEHS football team has worked as a coach since 1994, gaining experi-ence over the years to better him-self as a person, as well as a coach. Teammates admire Coach Hender-son for the devotion and compassion he has demonstrated to his players. Before SEHS, Henderson worked as a division one coach for Narbonne High School, a school that is well known for its football team. In 1988, Henderson began his law enforcement career, as a police officer, which did not allow
him time to coach the first six years,
but allowed him to spend his time as Henderson would say, “working on the streets.” While at Narbonne High School, Henderson coached their freshman football team. Henderson later stopped coaching high school and moved on to coaching Compton College, he later began his own Pop Warner Program, which lasted five
years. Coming to SEHS was not his only option; he had applied to three other High schools mainly focusing
on the South Bay area, When this job opened it gave him the chance to come back to the city.
“I would have been proud even if the team wouldn’t have won a single game,” said Coach Hender-son. Having faith in the team and confidence in him, Henderson
has managed to united the players.
This unity created a stronger, more focused and successful team. “We had success because we became one; we were not divided; when your one and focused and have discipline, you become one heartbeat,” said Coach Henderson.
Spending most of his at SEHS, leaves Coach Henderson very little time for his wife and kids. He must juggle the time he has to spend with his family, as well as, coaching and do his police duty at the same time. During the off-season
Coach Henderson takes advantage of the time he has. Coach Henderson puts in hard work, devotion and his time to see the football team succeed, taking them to the Finals this year.
Features Page 11
“we had success because we became one”
Coach Henderson gazes at victory Photo by Annabel Gonzalez check out Annabel’s blog: http://annabelgonzalez.edublogs.org
The Folklorico club is based on dancing the Ballet Folklorico dance from dif-ferent parts of Mexico. Re-gions including Sinaloa, Micho-acán, Chihuahua, Nayarit, Jalisco, Veracruz, and Chiapas have their own style of dancing this particular dance, but in this first
performance of theirs they are dancing to the style of Chihua-hua, song named “Jesusita en Chihuahua.” This dance from Chi-huahua is mostly good when dancing with two dancers and their connection in a stage. All throughout a Chihuahua dance, a couple’s hands are inter-twined, support-ing each other through the twirl-ing, bending and stomping of the feet. Chihuahua
ballet, like other regions, features unique costumes, props, and hair and make-up styles. Eye make up for women is a key signa-ture,” according to the sun South Western College newspaper. Anixia Rodriguez, a se-nior in the VAPA small school and the president of this club said “I get along great with the mem-bers of this club
because I been knowing major-ity of them quiet a while.”Joana Cardona, a junior in VAPA said, “I joined because it’s Mexican culture and since I am fully Mexican I want to keep the Mexican culture alive… y 100% Zacatecas! Y si señor!” Members [students] of this club said, “This dance makes them feel more connected to
their traditions and to their cul-ture as by not be-ing over there.” Francis Otañez, a junior in the small school of Business and Fi-nance, participate in the Folklorico club as a dancer and also as the treasurer and contributed with some of the steps of the dances. Also, thanks to this club someone who is part of it is going to
receive a schol-arship with the money the mem-bers of the club raise. As the treasurer Otañez said, “thanks to the teacher’s help they raised $340, by selling food on parent confer-ence day.” This is only the first
dance they have performed and students can ex-pect to see more Mexican culture with Folklorico club.
Fernanda Napoles is a Junior in the VAPA
academy. She spends most of
her spare time
in the audi-torium working on future performanc-es. Apart from performing she maintains a steady job, keeps up with her classes, and is the organizer for the VAPA council. “VAPA in general has opened a lot of windows for me,” said Napoles. She has already started planning for life after high school and has ap-plied for scholarships.” I don’t want to be an actor, but [VAPA is] going to help me pay for my tuition and get me schol-arship,” said Napoles.
Napoles has already received a scholarship from part of the acting academy. They have agreed to give Napoles a scholarship and pay for one semester of college, as long as she acts in school. Even though Na-poles loves to perform, it is not something she plans on pursuing as a
career after high school. After graduation she plans on coming back to assist the special needs
program while attend-ing college. Napoles also plans on one day forming an arts program for only special needs chil-dren.
“The special needs chil-dren need
somewhere they
can be them-
selves,” said Na-poles,
“they should be able to have some-where to express them-selves.”
Napoles is a well-rounded student who manages her time wisely. She can make weird voices
and she models. “She’s a talented, committed, young lady with a lot of integrity and a hard worker,” said Ms.Chavez.
Shining star Fernanda Napoles goes through the scenes of VAPA’s next pro-duction Photo by Ana Uragacheck out Ana’s blog: http://anauraga.edublogs.org
The man behind the gloryBy Jose Diaz Reporter
check out Jose’s blog: http://josediaz.edublogs.org
Folklorico clubbrings color to dancing
VAPA star student shinesBy Ashley CovarrubiasReporter
By Yasmin BurgosReporter
Folklorico club in costume ready to add a splash of color to something traditional Photo by Yasmin Burgos
Sports Page 12
Jaguars win first CIF championship (cont.)
Kick-Start to the new Soccer Season
By Jaime Carrillo Reporter The glory of this win was not only between the players but with the coaches as well. “Oh, it’s great it’s the first time we [won] the Eastern League Championship and the CIF championship. For the school only being around for seven years it’s great. These kids have been practicing since Janu-ary. I’m proud of them, I’m proud of the whole community, our staff, our cheerleaders and everybody. We did a great job,” said Coach Ruiz. Among all the celebration
and all the tears of joy for winning the City Section Division II champi-
onship the Jaguars showed that when united as a team anything can be ac-
complished. Team is an ac-ronym for To-gether Every-body Achieves More, and on that night the Jaguars achieved their greatest ac-c o m p l i s h -ment. To some this might
seem as the end of the road, but for others it is only the beginning of a new and pros-perous chapter waiting to be written. The Jaguars are 2011 City Sec-tion Division II champions.
“Aw man, it’s the best feeling in the world man. I mean it’s an honor being their coach and these kids did a lot of hard work. They did it on the field and they did such a great job, and I’m so proud of all of them not only on the field but off the field, the score doesn’t even matter to how great they are,” said Henderson.
The soccer season has begun and the Jaguars are going to try and win CIF. Again. Although they don’t have their star player Christian Ventura, who played forward last year and was a big contributor to the team, the Jag-uars feel like they can go far with their new squad and get good results from it. “I hope to have a great and success-ful season with my team, and hopefully be able to go far like last season,” said David Cruz, a senior in the International
Studies Learning Center. As the season contin-ued, the Jaguars faced the Redondo Union Sea Slugs winning with a score of 3-1 for a chance to be in the Westside Tourna-ment. Christian Altamira, a senior in the Health and Science small school had an amazing game scoring two goals in the first half, and making an assist to his teammates and later
led to another goal by the Jaguars. Although the Jaguars have started off with a great record, Cruz thinks otherwise, “It’s too early in the season to say where we will end up, but I know we’ll end up having a great season.” The Jaguars will face Bell High School which will be one “one of their toughest games,” says Cruz. They’ve worked hard dur-ing practice. The Jaguars offense has been working harder and scor-ing goals, the only downside of it will be working together to bet-ter their defense and offense.
Soccer players ready to take on redondo union sea slugs.
Story by Ambrocio Almanza Reporter
It’s the time of year when many people think about the Christ-mas break and the New Year, but there are other people who are think-ing otherwise: swim. That’s right, swim season sign-ups are coming up. Many students are looking forward to this year swim season, not because it’s a new sport to try, but because swim is the sport where students meet new students and learn how to swim. “Can’t wait for swim sign-ups. I’m super excited because this year is going to be fun,” said Eu-nice Quintanilla, a sophomore in the
Technology & Media magnet and a swim returner. But there are many students that don’t think swim is a sport because many students think swim is not a competitive sport like soccer, basketball, and football. “Swim is very competitive, people don’t realize that swimming you have to use your whole body [legs and arms], but it’s hard work and dedication,” said Quintanilla. Any student could tryout for swim; it doesn’t matter if you could swim or not since you can learn how to swim in the team. Students who miss the
swim meeting can go see Ms. Serrano in her office in the girl’s locker room.
Swim sign-ups coming up By Karla Reyna Reporter
South East steps on the grid iron to demolish Marshall. Photo by Juan Lomeli
Soccer player warming up for victory.
Players in action in defeating Marshall. Photo by Juan Lomeli
#6 Alex Alvarez recieving a pass from #9 Jonathan Santos. Photo by Juan Lomeli
South East players ready to spank Marshall. Photo by Juan Lomeli
Photo by Juan LomeliPhoto by Juan Lomeli
Our defense ready to block the other team’s goal. Photo by Juan Lomeli
